Sunday, March 31, 2024

Register for BRAC Spring 2024 Art Classes! Attend our Open House!



Sign Up Now for Spring Session

Classes run from April 8 - June 24

Free Open House Event on April 13th

Visit Education Page

WEEKLY ART CLASSES

(Full descriptions available at 

www.bronxriverart.org/education)

Children and Teen Classes (ages 7 - 17): $95 for 10 sessions

Child & Parent (child must be  6 - 12): $180 for 10 sessions

Young Adult and Adult Classes (18+): $120 for 10 sessions


SNAP RECIPIENTS CAN USE "SNAP10" TO GET AN EXTRA $10 OFF CLASSES

*$50 materials fee for Adult Ceramics and all Pottery tickets due to rising 

supply and firing costs

Registration is now open for BRAC's Spring Art Classes! 

Our spring semester will run for 10 weeks from April 8th to 

June 24th, offering both weekly two-hour art classes and 

three-hour art workshops for children, teens, and adults.


Mondays 

DRAWING 

Ages 7-12 (Parents Welcome) – 4 to 6pm 

 

DRAWING FROM LIFE 

Teens & Adults – 6:30 to 8:30pm 

Tuesdays 

CERAMICS 

Ages 7-12 (Parents Welcome) – 4 to 6pm 

 

POTTERY 

Teens & Adults – 4 to 6pm 

Teens & Adults – 6:30 to 8:30pm 

Wednesdays 

MANGA & CARTOONING 

Ages 7-12 (Parents Welcome) – 4 to 6pm 

 

DIGITAL ART & ILLUSTRATION 

Teens & Adults – 4 to 6pm 

Thursdays 

PAINTING I 

Ages 7-12 (Parents Welcome) – 4 to 6pm 

Saturdays 

DRAWING & PRINTMAKING 

Ages 7+ – 10am to 12pm 

 

CERAMICS 

Ages 7+ – 11am to 1pm 

 

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

Teens & Adults – 11am to 1pm 

 

DRAWING & PRINTMAKING 

Ages 7+ 12 to 2pm 

 

POTTERY 

Teens & Adults – 2 to 4pm 

 

DIGITAL ART & ANIMATION 

Ages 11+ – 2 to 4pm 

 

PORTRAITURE PAINTING 

Ages 11+ – 2:30 to 4:30pm 



Register for Afternoon, Evening, and Saturday Classes 

FRIDAY THREE-HOUR WORKSHOPS

(Full descriptions available at www.bronxriverart.org/education)


Join us and relax at the end of the work or school week 

in our 3-hour art workshops, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm

in a variety of topics and techniques for ages 12 and 

older. Most workshops are $15 per session. Figure 

Drawing is $20 and restricted to adults 18 and 

older. SNAP recipients can use "SNAP20" to get an 

extra $3 off workshops.


April 12 - Importance of Color Shapes in Painting with Jaron Newton

April 19 - Figure Drawing with Douglass Guy (Ages 18 and Older)

May 3 - Digital Illustration with TBD

May 10 - Color Harmony in Portrait Painting with Jaron Newton

May 17 - Figure Drawing with Douglass Guy (Ages 18 and Older)

May 24 - Printmaking with Tammy Wofsey

May 31 - Landscape Pastel Drawing with Gail Nathan

June 7 - Abstract Collage with Michele Brody

June 14 - Figure Drawing with Douglass Guy (Ages 18 and Older)

June 21 - Paper Alfresco with Michele Brody



BRAC SPRING 2024 OPEN HOUSE

Join us for a BRAC Open House! On Saturday, April 13th from 11am to 2pm, come and enjoy a few hours of fun art activities and tour our studios. Partake in free snacks, giveaways, and art supplies; and sign up for our Spring 2024 slate of art classes ranging from drawing to painting to printmaking to animation!

NOTE: Classes may not run if there are less than eight registered students. If the class is canceled, you will be notified before classes start.

Peruvian National Extradited for Overseeing Call Center That Threatened and Defrauded Spanish-Speaking U.S. Consumers

 

A resident of Lima, Peru, was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance in Miami federal court, where he stands accused of operating a large fraud and extortion scheme.

Jose Alejandro ZuƱiga Cano, 40, was arrested on Feb. 26, 2023, by Peruvian authorities pursuant to a U.S. extradition request. He has remained incarcerated in Peru since that time.  

According to the indictment, the defendant managed and operated Peruvian call centers from January 2014 through February 2019. The defendant and his co-conspirators in Peru allegedly used Internet-based telephone calls to contact Spanish-speaking individuals in the United States. The call centers falsely told victims they had won raffles for free products, including computer tablets with English language courses. Many consumers expressed interest in receiving the free products. In later calls, victims were told they were required to make large payments to receive the products. When victims objected, the callers misrepresented that the victims had unlawfully failed to pay for or receive delivery of products.

“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals responsible for defrauding vulnerable U.S. consumers, wherever they are located. I thank the Republic of Peru, including the Peruvian National Police, for its assistance extraditing this individual to face charges here in the United States,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department and U.S. law enforcement will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners across the globe to bring to justice criminals who attempt to defraud U.S. victims from outside the United States.”

“Collaboration between countries enhances efforts to strengthen rule of law,” said Inspector in Charge Juan A. Vargas of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Miami Division. “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service thanks the Republic of Peru and our law enforcement partners who were determined to dismantle this transnational scheme to defraud U.S. consumers via the U.S. mail and telephonically. Together, we sent a strong message, globally, that justice has no borders.”

According to the indictment, the defendant and his co-conspirators falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, police officers, and representatives of a supposed “minor crimes court.” The defendant and his co-conspirators falsely told the victims that they had a contractual obligation to pay for and receive products and had caused legal problems for themselves and others by allegedly failing to do so. The indictment alleges that the callers also falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, arrest, negative marks on their credit reports, or immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees. According to the indictment, many victims paid because of these baseless threats.

At times, the defendant and his co-conspirators re-victimized the same victims with a related “restitution” fraud scheme. According to the indictment, the defendant and his co-conspirators placed additional calls to those victims who had already paid and, while posing as lawyers from a U.S. court, falsely represented that victims were entitled to restitution payments that would compensate them for their losses to the defendant and his co-conspirators in the first part of their scheme. The defendant and his co-conspirators fraudulently told these victims that they needed to pay a percentage of their restitution to a lawyer who supposedly brought a case and recovered restitution on their behalf. In reality, there was no lawyer, no restitution order, and no funds were returned to the victims who made these additional payments.  

A seven-count federal indictment was filed against the defendant in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in November 2021 and was unsealed upon the defendant’s extradition to the United States. The defendant has been charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and extortion. An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed. If convicted, ZuƱiga faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

USPIS investigated the case.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Peruvian National Police and the Peruvian Attorney General’s Office provided critical assistance.

Senior Trial Attorney and Transnational Criminal Litigation Coordinator Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Carolyn Rice of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. 

The Justice Department continues to investigate and bring charges in other similar matters involving threats against Spanish-speaking residents of the United States. If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish and other languages are available.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Consumer complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/  or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at https://www.ovc.gov.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its fraud enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Governor Hochul Encourages New Yorkers to Participate in Love Our New York Lands Stewardship Days

I Love My Park Day participants. 

Participants Will Celebrate New York’s Public Lands by Volunteering in Cleanup and Stewardship Events Throughout the State

Events Include Canal Clean Sweep from April 19-21 and I Love My Park Day on May 4

Efforts Align With Governor Hochul’s 2024 State of the State Announcement to Plant 25 Million Trees Across New York State by 2033

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that New York State agencies and partners will celebrate a series of stewardship days to help enhance parks, historic sites and public lands. Service projects during four events held throughout the year will raise awareness and visibility of the state’s many outdoor recreation assets and their needs during the Love Our New York Lands Stewardship Days.

“With a record number of New Yorkers and visitors taking advantage of the world class outdoor recreation opportunities our state has to offer, we have a responsibility to preserve the unparalleled beauty of New York’s outdoor spaces,” Governor Hochul said. “I invite all New Yorkers to show how much they love our New York lands and take part in these stewardship opportunities to support the environmental and cultural legacy of our state lands.”

To encourage year-round stewardship, the goal of Love Our New York Lands is to help protect the state’s natural resources by providing visitors with the knowledge necessary to reduce their impact, engage users to practice sustainable and safe recreation and help all visitors feel welcome while visiting state lands. These efforts to enhance New York’s public lands align with Governor Hochul’s plan to plant 25 million trees across New York State by 2033, announced during her 2024 State of the State.

In partnership with Parks & Trails New York, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, New York State Canal Corporation and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will support statewide volunteer opportunities that kick off with Canal Clean Sweep from April 19-21. Events that follow include I Love My Park Day on May 4, Adirondack and Catskill Park Day on September 7 and Fish and Wildlife Day on September 28.

Registration is currently open for the 19th annual Canal Clean Sweep on April 19-21. The annual clean-up event is held across the New York State Canal System and Canalway Trail with over 170 volunteer events to select from. Visit www.ptny.org/canalsweep to sign up for the event you would like to attend. Make sure to note the date and time as most events occur the weekend of April 19-21.

The 13th annual I Love My Park Day will take place on May 4 with registration opening April 3. This is the largest statewide volunteer event that enhances our public lands, with volunteers participating by cleaning up debris, planting trees and gardens, restoring trails and wildlife habitats, removing invasive species and working on various site improvement projects. More information can be found at https://www.ptny.org/ilovemypark.

New event opportunities will be available with Adirondack & Catskill Park Day on September 7 and Fish & Wildlife Day on September 28. These events will highlight the unique Forest Preserve lands that are found in New York State and enhance wildlife conservation and wildlife-associated recreation. More information will be available at https://www.ptny.org/lovenylands.

Love Our New York Lands stewardship days come as New York State continues to celebrate the 100th anniversary the State Parks system. Celebratory initiatives include ‘Blazing A Trail,’ an interactive timeline chronicling the agency’s history and influential figures; an exhibit in the New York State Capitol’s State Street Tunnel currently on view; the Share Your Story project, which invites people to tell their own stories relating to Parks and Sites; the Centennial Challenge, which encourages people to win prizes by participating in various activities at parks and sites; and the release of the Centennial Collection merchandise, which includes t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and more. Additional initiatives will be announced throughout 2024.